Abstract

Many abandoned tidal deltas occur along barrier ridges of the British Honduras coast. In these deltas, the seaward mouth of the tidal channel is blocked by the ridges, and thus the construction of the ridges represents an additional process to upset the balance of forces responsible for tidal deltas. Major storms are the cause. Scattered, newly formed beaches composed of soft, black, H 2 S-rich mud occur in small bights along the coast. At Northern River Lagoon, the sequence, from top to bottom, of black mud, flotsam, and clean quartz sand, indicates that the beach did not accrete slowly, but formed during a single event. At Midwinter Lagoon a tidal channel open in 1944 is now blocked by a barrier formed in 1961 by a hurricane. The development of British Honduras coast can be understood only by considering both continuous and episodic events.